21 Jun Teaching Children To Swim Might Reduce Pool Accidents

During the summer months individuals throughout the province of Ontario seek ways to enjoy the warmer temperatures. For some, this entails swimming in a pool. While enjoyable for many, without proper supervision devastating accidents can occur. This is particularly true where children are concerned.

According to the World Health Organization, for children and young people, drowning is found on the list of top ten causes of death. The Canadian organization, the Lifesaving Society, seconds this indicating that for children under the age of 10, drowning is second on the list of preventable deaths. Even when a child survives a near-drowning, the outcome can be catastrophic. Depending on the specifics surrounding the incident it is possible that the child may suffer a brain injury and never fully recovery.

To try to prevent such injuries from occurring teaching young children to swim is recommended. The WHO report specifically indicated that in addition to basic swimming, rescue skills and water safety should also be taught.

In Canada, the Lifesaving Society has a program called Swim to Survive. Its focus is to teach elementary age children survival skills they can use to save themselves in the event that they fall into the water. These skills include how to:

Roll into deep water

Tread water for 60 seconds

Swim the distance of 50 metres

Thus far participants in the program, all of whom are grade 3 students, total around 3,000.

When a child is injured, while participating in a recreational activity such as swimming, the stress and strain felt by parents taking care of their injured child can be overwhelming. It is possible that an occupiers’ liability lawyer could be of assistance in helping them to move through the legal matters related to the issue.